Today's theme
was inspired by the watching of the DVD (Extended Version) of The Lord of the
Rings: The Return of the King over the holidays. I had seen the movie
in the theater in
2003, and almost used it then, as I found Annie Lennox' lovely song so moving. I just couldn't resist it this time.

BIRTHDAYS:

To the best of my knowledge, we have
no birthdays among us to celebrate today, but we do have a
Twofer tomorrow:

What a wonderful theme for the newsletter.
When you get to go to Radio City for the Christmas Show you will see the
Rockettes dressed as toy soldiers and so a wonderfully choreographed number,
ending with their collapse (onto each other in a line) following a "shot" from a
cannon. It is the highlight of the show and never ceases to amaze me. We try
to go down there every year and of course with Becky living in
Brooklyn it is a no-brainer. I hope you will get to do this some year.
The Rockettes also have traveling tour groups that go into other cities and
present the Christmas Show.

Love and HAPPY NEW YEAR...I finally got the
site today!

Thanks, Jean - I'm glad you liked it!

Ahhh,
New York City and the Rockettes! My parents saw them perform when they went
there for their honeymoon. Does that count?Noooo?!? GIGGLES!!!

Thanks, Lady!
Though it seems extremely improbable to
me that I will ever go anywhere at all ever again, I have learned never to say
never.

From My Niece,
Shari, of VA - 01/01/07 - "Live 2007 With Gusto and a recorded celebration":

I am not the "Happy New Year" type. But now that I do not know who I am, I've
decided to BE the happy New Year good will Easter lucky bunny flag waving
fellow American patriot I would so love to be. So, My sweet Carol and all
----HAPPY (HEART) GREEN FOOLISH BUNNY FLOWER CHILD SALUTE THE BOOK TOTING
SCARY THANKFUL SANTA LOVER, out there. It is my fervent hope this year, unlike
others, will be more productive for us all, as human, newly born, child like
adolescent pre adult geriacts ( old people).

I find that the drugs I can afford do me well, as I seem to be alive but, for
the life of me, can't remember why. I have (resolved) the "I can't
remember why I came into this room", dilemma by simply keeping a pen in each
room and writing it on my hand before I leave. I tried writing on paper but
would forget to carry it with me, but my hand always seems to follow me every
where. ( plus I'm not killing a tree) (they still make paper from trees, don't
they) ( are there Dolly Trees, yet?) No matter.

I have finally found my sofa! Two years of looking has paid off. It is white
leather with plain simple lines to sit in front of my red walls. My young
neighbor down the way really hates my red walls as I found out when I stop to
wish him a Merry Christmas coming from another neighbor's house. If looks
could defray a deep breath, a flower blooming, a bird in flight, this one
could. So I was forced to tell him about my husband of 39 years having to
leave ahead of me and how I had come to use the back door because I could
not bare to cross this room. Now all I see Is RED. It is so outrageous, It's
all I think about, and surprise, not thinking is good.

"What would my husband say if he were
here?" ( See how young he is?)

"Sweety", I said, "if my husband were
here, you would be talking to him!"

Personally I think it is not the color
but how much work it would take to paint over. Isn't he lucky he is not doing
the painting?! Men are forever judging things by the work. How much would I
have to work to pay for that? How would I get it home? Does it have to be put
together? If I sold the house would I have to get rid of it? What do I do if
it breaks? What do I do if it leaks? Does that mean more house insurance? Can
I afford that? Is my wife going to enjoy this because I'll be DEAD?!!!!

Men ,You gotta love 'em and then get up
and make a sandwich.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, my friends, I love you
all.......

Linda
May, one of these first days, I'm actually going to reach you
on the phone... Not that I have any great insights on this
problem, because obviously I do not - and I'm not referring to your decorating
scheme, either.

Love
you, Lady!

From My Niece,
Shari, of VA - 01/01/07 - "A very creative page, age game and jokes":

An Italian man immigrates to America. He starts sweeping floors
in a pizzeria, and after 15 years works his way up to owning
a small chain of pizzerias. Now that he is wealthy he decides
to have a huge house designed and built for him... And it is
going to have everything!

One day he is talking to the contractor and says, "Make a you
sure you puta plenty da halo statues inna da house. I wanna
hava lotsa da halo statues. One inna every room, even da
bathroom."

The contractor assumes his client is very religious and
carefully plans a niche in every room. He even personally
searches for the perfect statue for each niche.

Finally, the house is finished. The Italian man walks through
his new home for the first time. The contractor points out all
the features, and finally the Italian man says, "But wherea
are alluh my halo statues? I wanna lotsa halo statues!"

The contractor points to the niches and says, "I put a statue
in every room, like you asked."

Not quite grasping the sanctity of "Monday
Night Football," I plunked myself next to my new husband one Monday night to chat. He was distracted by the action on TV, and after being shushed a few times, I gave him a "look."

Immediately contrite, he picked up the remote. "I'm sorry, honey," he apologized, "I'm being rude. You go ahead and talk--I'll just turn up the volume."

WILD
GIGGLES!!! Thanks - for all these, Shari!

From Pat Beck
Litzinger ('57) of VA - 01/01/07 - "HAPPY NEW YEAR":

A good
friend of mine sent this to me and being that it has some good wishes for
2007, I felt it was worth passing along to all my e-mail friends.

After most serious & cautious consideration.....
your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2007 !

It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to screw it up!!!

My Wish for You in 2007

May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal
all your debts.

May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet for $100 bills.

May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!

May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.

May all the problems you had, forget your home address!

May love stay forever in your heart.

In simple words ............

May 2007 be the best year of your life!!!

Thanks, Pat! I really like this wish!
Happy New Year!

From Jean Poole
Burton ('64) of RI - 01/01/07 - "Not to worry..."

About being backlogged: What are we going to do, fire
you? Will you get a decrease in your salary? Will all your co-workers ban you
from the lunchroom? Will we stop sending you our silly, fun, trivia? nah...not
us!

Hugs, jb

Wal, YABUT,
each of those missing Newsletters - and I think I'm down to an even dozen now -
contains a wealth of information from y'all. Basically speaking, if a
Newsletter "IN PROCESS" bears a certain date, all the mail from the previous day
or two will be contained in it. So, uh, until I'm able to accomplish that,
I'm being weighed down by a tremendous load of guilt.

HEY, WAIT A MINUTE! Maybe that's what in all this
excess blubber of mine - pounds and pounds of guilt, wrapped and cleverly
concealed in fat globules! Maybe I should just forget about diet and
exercise and concentrate on churning out backlogged Newsletters! YEAH!!! That's my new Diet Plan! SUPER!!! I feel better already! Thanks,
Jean!

From the President
of the Class of 1965, Joe Wingo of NC - 01/02/07 -
"Happy 2007":

Dearest Carol,

May
this be the best year ever for you and your loved ones. To all our
Newsletter family, may the wind always be at your back, may the sun always
be upon your face, and may the grace of God always fill your hearts.

Happy New Year fellow travelers. I hope our paths cross many times yet.

I gave my mother the Arcadia Publications book on the
Old Wythe Neighborhoodfor Christmas (she attended George Wythe Jr.
High School and HHS.) She lived in Hampton on LaSalle Avenue until
she married my daddy and then they moved ALL THE WAY TO
NEWPORT NEWS! Anyway my mom, who is now 84, sat and read that book for
hours. She knew most of the people mentioned in the book and loved looking at
the old houses. I saw Tom Norris's(Hampton High - '73 - of VA) photo (he was on the committee to
gather the material for the book). It is a wonderful book and is available at
Barnes & Noble in Hampton.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL,
Jean Burton

What a thrill it is
to give someone a gift that is truly appreciated! That's an unbeatable feeling,
Jean! I'm glad it was yours - and of course, I'm glad your mama liked her
book! I know Tom and the other committee members worked very long and hard
on it!

Thanks for sharing
that, Jean!

From My Friend,
Judy, of IL - 01/02/07 - "Sad but true":

Sad but true

How True It Is...

Another year has passed
And we're all a little older.
Last summer felt hotter
And winter seems much colder.

I rack my brain for happy thoughts
to put down on my pad,
But lots of things that come to mind
Just make me kind of sad.

Hmmm.... This is the part where I'm "posta" say
sumpin' chirpy and cheerful, Judy, but I'm afraid you've caught me on a rather
bad day. I tend to regularly develop melancholia during the first part of
January anyway. To exacerbate that, at the moment one of my favorite teeth
has developed a nasty abscess which has spread to the entire right side of my
bottom jaw, and (mega-brat that I am) I don't handle pain gracefully. Aside from that, I think
my dentist passed away last year.

But there is good news abounding
out there, of that I'm sure. And I'm just as sure our 475 correspondents
will share it with us, even though I seem to be a Gloomy Gus at the moment.

Gas cooker blows up island

This was the staggering scene after a faulty gas cooker
exploded in a timber-framed shack – and devastated a tiny Caribbean island.

The blast caused an inferno that leapt from hut to hut,
taking less than ten minutes to sweep across Soledad Miria.

Many of the 1,014 inhabitants dived into the sea or took
to fishing boats to escape. More than a third – 348 – were injured but,
amazingly, no one died.

Friday, December 29, 2006 - Soledad Miria

YOWZERONI, Shari! I didn't realize we had
that in common. I've heard it said that all the best cooks prefer gas
stoves (which alone no doubt speaks volumes!), but I'll not have another
if I can help it. At the very least, I constantly imagined that I smelled
gas fumes, whether or not it was true.

Miriam April Howard and William Robert Randall
Moon were married on December 23, 2006
in Ochos Rios,
Jamaica. Sisters of the bride, Dr. Chera Howard Hope of Asburn, VA
was Matron of Honor, and Heather Howard of
Yorktown, VA was Maid of Honor.

Miriam is the daughter of John and Cheryl Mays
Howard of
Yorktown, VA,and the granddaughter of Roselle Harvey Mays of
Newport News, Va. A reception was given in their honor on New Years
Eve at the Fort Eustis Club.

Miriam is a
graduate of Bruton High School. She graduated
from Southeastern College with a BS degree in Education and from Nova
University with a M.A. Degree in Varying Exceptionality, and an Ed. S.
Degree in Educational Leadership. She will graduate in
June 07 with a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Nova University.
Miriam is an Assistant Principle at E.E. Smith High School in
Fayetteville, NC.

Miriam and
Randy

Randy is the son of Robert and
Christine Moon of Greenwood, SC. He
is a graduate of Ichabod Crane High School in Valatie, NY. and Geneva College in
Beaver Falls, PA. with a B.S. Degree in Business Administration/Finance
He is serving in the U.S. Army, stationed at
Ft. Bragg, NC, and is currently in the Medic Program.

WOWZERONI!!!
Y'all make pretty babies, Cheryl!
Thanks for sharing this with us!

From One of my
Famous Marines - Herb Hice of MI, who
served in the Pacific Theater during WWII - 01/02/07 - "Dear Carol, More on
President Ford's Funeral":

Dear Carol,

Watching the progression of
President Ford's Funeral tributes, It seems to me that we don't think about a
person's life much until after they are gone. ~~~ I watched a good portion
of the ceremony and a lot of fond memories are etched in my mind. ~~~ I enjoyed
the black lady who sang "Our Father, which art in heaven", Beautiful voice !!!
~~~ I admire Tom Brokaw; he is a very sensible man of our times. I bought his
book, The Greatest Generation. ~~~ Laura Bush is a Classy Lady, I love
her. ~~~ President Bush mentioned in his Eulogy that President Ford is the
only President that ever was an Eagle Scout. You should be very proud of your
Eagle Scouts.

Your Friend, Herbie

I'm so glad you were able to
view that funeral, Herbie Darlin'.
For various reasons, I was unable to swatch it, except in a few brief news
clips. I personally always admired President Ford. I think he was a
true and honest man.

And if truth be known, I'm proud
of my six Eagles, too.

REUNION REMINDERS:

Reunion
information is ALWAYS posted very near the top on the front page, and
on the Reunion Page section: